Chasing Shadows
by mercygirl910
Summary: Gwendolyn and Victoria are Bosmer elves raised by adopted Altmer parents in Auridon. The mystery of who their birth parents were is something they long to find out. Seeking the answers to their questions may lead towards danger they aren't prepared for. Disclaimer: Anything pertaining to the Elder Scrolls Universe is the sole property of Bethesda. Cover Art by: Little-Vee@deviant
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 _50 years ago. In the woods near the city of Elden Root, Grahtwood._

Out of the dim forest light a Bosmer man runs, panting, and holding a small female child in his hands. Followed closely behind, a Bosmer woman appears carrying a crying infant on her back. "Shhh my little one, please…" she whispered. "Daddy!" cried the toddler held by the man. "It's okay sweetie, everything is going to be alright." the man attempted to soothe the child but there was real fear in his voice and an uncertainty about if what he was saying would hold true. In the distance the sounds of several savage beasts could be heard snarling and panting. They were getting closer. Following the sound of the two small children crying."We can't keep going at this pace, they will catch us." the woman said helplessly. "We are almost there, once we reach Elden Root we can find shelter and hide. We have to keep going. If they catch us, we will all perish. These men will not show mercy on you or our children merely because you are a woman and they are children. Oh, what have I done to us!" the man began to weep. "I'm so sorry my love." the man reached out and caressed his wife's cheek. "There is no time for regrets my love. You were unaware of the dangers, and simply trying to provide for us…" "Quiet!" the man interrupted. "They're here. We must hide the children. Here, in this tree hollow." Behind then stood a large tree with a hollow at the base. "Muster all the magicka you can my dear to conceal their presence and pray." They placed both children in the tree hollow along with a ledger of some sort. "Mama!" the little girl cried and reached for her mother. "Now my sweet, you must be quiet and hold your baby sister tight, okay." the woman said with tears streaming down her face. "Whatever happens and no matter what you hear you mustn't come out. Do you understand?" the little girl nodded. The woman began to chant something almost inaudible. Just then the energy around the tree hollow vibrated. The sounds of the girls crying became mute to the outside world. The enchantment also hid the girls from view but it would not last forever. Inside the girls could hear the chaos ensuing outside. The sound of their parents fighting growling hungry beasts, and men shouting orders for those beasts to attack, soon became only the sound of those savage beasts devouring flesh. "Enough!" the sound of flesh being eaten subsided at the man's command. "The mistress demands we not return without the ledger. Search the bodies! Locate the children they can't be far! We have orders to kill them all." Shouted the man. "Yes sir!" replied the other men in unison. They searched and searched but the enchantment held and they grew tired of the search. "Alright that's enough! We are moving out. Those children won't survive out here alone and the ledger must have been devoured by one of the durzog along with that idiot merchant and his wife. Move out!" The men began to leave and soon there was only silence. The only sound was the vague sound of crying beginning to emerge from the tree hollow.

Several hours later, along a rarely traveled road through the woods, a caravan approached. "Darling do you think it is wise to take this road? These woods are filled with terrible dangers." an Altimer woman traveling with the caravan worried aloud. "Now Miriam I've traveled this road countless times. You are completely safe with me." an Altimer man said with a roguish grin. "Edward why do insist on taking unnecessary risks and putting me, your poor wife, through such nerve wracking conditions!" Miriam scolded. "Dear no risk is unnecessary if it brings the reward of a large gold payment at the end." chimed Edward. All of the sudden Miriam heard the crying of small children coming from somewhere not far off the road. Miriam beaconed for her husband to be quiet, "Did you hear that Edward?". "Hear what?" replied Edward. Miriam heard the crying again this time closer, "Driver stop the carriage now!". The carriage came to a screeching halt and Miriam dashed out of the carriage towards the crying. Edward chased after her with the driver following close behind them. "Miriam please stop, these woods are dangerous!". Miriam suddenly stopped and Edward nearly ran into her. The crying was now audible to everyone. In front of them stood a tall tree with a hollow at the base. On the ground the barely recognizable half eaten remains of a man and woman lay strewn in all directions. Blood covering the forest floor. "Look away Miriam…" Edward warned as he approached the hollow. He looked inside and saw two of the most beautiful Bosmer children he had ever laid eyes on, the blood of what he could only assume were their parents splattered on their skin and clothing. "Daran, come here quickly." he motioned for the driver to approach. He grabbed the infant and handed it to Daran. "Shhh now little one, you are safe." he gently tried to soothe the frightened toddler who clutched in her hand a ledger. Daran handed the infant to Miriam and guided her back to the caravan. Edward followed with the little girl in his arms. Immediately her head collapsed onto his shoulder in exhaustion. They loaded back into the carriage and continued on the road to Elden Root. "Edward what do you think happened out there?" Miriam asked quietly as both children had fallen fast asleep, finally out of danger. "I'm not certain. If I had to guess their parents were attacked by a large number of beasts. How they didn't get eaten as well is beyond me. Their crying would have easily attracted whatever it was that got their parents." "What is in the ledger?" Miriam wondered aloud grabbing and examining it. "It appears to be a standard merchant's log. All there is to identify the owner is a name inside the front cover. Not much to go by but we can inquire about it once we reach Elden Root. We must find out where and with whom we should leave these children." Edward replied. "Leave them? We won't be leaving them anywhere. They will be returning with us back home. I have prayed to Auri-El for years to send us a child. While this may not have been how I would have guessed he'd send them, I believe it was no accident these two precious girls were kept safe and spared despite the odds or that we happened by them." Miriam said filled with renewed faith in Auri-El. "Miriam we simply cannot…" Edward paused as he saw the defiant and loving look Miriam gave and she cradled both girls next to her. "As you wish Miriam." That was that. Ready or not Miriam and Edward had in an instant become parents for the first time. Unprepared and unaware of the challenges they would face raising two adopted Bosmer girls to be Altmer women. As they finally approached Elden Root all they both could think of was how these poor children had so violently lost their parents and how now they were the only ones in the world those two girls could depend on to keep them safe. Edward tucked the ledger away in his satchel and neither of them spoke a word about it for many years later.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 _Present day Auridon. Edward Greylock's Manor and Farm located west of The Skywatch._

In a small wooded area near the Greylock Manor Gwendolyn Alice Greylock, or Gwen as she preferred, was stalking a rather large buck. Gwen is the eldest adopted daughter of Edward and Miriam Greylock. One of the two Bosmer girls they found abandoned and scared while traveling on business to Elden Root in Grahtwood. They knew little about the girls' parents besides that they were horribly murdered by beasts of some kind and that the father appeared to be a merchant who left behind a ledger with business transactions. They never thought to find out more as Miriam Greylock fell in love with the girls the moment she laid eyes on them and convinced her husband to raise them as their own. Miriam was barren, and after many years of marriage and not one child she had given up hope of ever having a family until that fateful day in the forests not far from Elden Root. Gwen had only been about a couple years old and her sister, whom the Greylocks named Victoria, was only about a few months old. They grew to be lovely girls, as beautiful as any Altimer woman and that's saying a lot. Gwen was fairly tall for her race, about as tall as a wood elf could get, but still short when it came to all the Altimer men, women, and even children that surrounded her her entire life. She had silver hair, as if her head had been kissed by starlight, which she tended to kept cropped rather short. Her eyes were large and grey in color. She had a light thin frame and like her people was quick on her feet and almost silent, this made her an excellent huntress. Some years back while traveling with her father on buisness they stopped at a bosmer settlement. She was compelled to tattoo a large portion of her body with tribal like tatoos while her father slept. He was none too happy about but she liked them. When she went out to hunt, which was often, her kills were used primarily to fashion clothing of her own design, but of course when she brought in huge game like a buck or bear it was enough for the entire manor to feast. She was as skilled with a bow as you could get. She could fire a shot and fell her prey before they even knew they'd been hit. As a dragonknight her bow was tipped with a deadly poison and if her prey or enemies were close enough she could emit a poisonous breath.

Gwen's sister Victoria, or Vee as she prefered to be called, was shorter than Gwen by about a head. She had shoulder length chestnut colored hair and her eyes were a mesmerizing amber color. She enjoyed using her quick lithe body to practice stealing. She dreamed of one day becoming a famous thief or even an assassin. Anything that would allow her to have a life full of adventure. Vee seemed to chase danger, she was a rouge in almost every sense. There was something inside her that would not rest, oft times to the chagrin of Edward and Miriam. Growing up with such a wanderlust and sense of adventure was hard at times. There was also a part of her that wanted to help others, so while she welded her favorite daggers which were gifted to her by her father in the Daedric style, she was also a skilled templar healer. It was hard enough to fit in with the high elves, who mostly thought little of everyone else besides their own race, let alone having a personality like Vee's which seemed to get her into trouble. Their father Edward, although respected amongst his people for providing some of the best mounts in all of Tamriel, was not immune to the scorn of his peers, who felt he was too friendly with other races and were almost offended when he returned home with two Bosmer girls to raise. It was unheard of and many questioned why he didn't just leave them there to die or at the very least hand them over to the authorities in Elden Root and let them deal with them.

Although it was a struggle to raise the girls in their world they never once regretted their decision. Edward was a man who commanded respect when he entered the room. He may have been a merchant landowner and perhaps that didn't afford him the highest standing amongst the high elves but he had perfected his craft and even king and queens paid a hefty price to own one of his carefully raised mounts. He was treated like a lord in most circles and Miriam was respected as a high born lady. So while there were those that questioned his acquaintances and even his children, they would think twice before saying anything to his face or treating him with anything less than the dignity he had worked so very hard to acquire. That didn't mean that Gwen and Vee shared the same respect growing up. While people weren't quick to make nasty comment when Edward and Miriam were around, they did so when they weren't. Edward and Miriam told no one the circumstances in which they found the girls, not even the girls themselves. Everyone including Gwen and Vee were lead to believe the girls were simply abandoned. No one knew, besides their driver Daren, and his loyalty to the Greylocks would never allow him to tell a soul, that their parents were dead or how horrific their murder had been. The girls always assumed that their birth parents may be somewhere alive and they may even regret having abandoned them.

One day, some years ago, Gwen found Vee sitting near a pond not far from their home. She had been staring at her reflection in the water, her eyes were red as if she had been crying. It wasn't often that they would even speak of their birth parents or anything to do with being abandoned. "What's wrong Vee?" Gwen asked sitting down next to Vee at the edge of the pond. "Don't you ever wonder why?" asked Vee. "Why what?" asked Gwen slightly confused. "Why they left us? Don't you wonder every time we see another older Bosmer if it could be them? Don't you ever get the urge to grab them and scream why did you abandon us?!" Vee began to shake and tears began to stream down her face. Gwen held back her own tears and put her arm around her sister and held her tight. "Of course I do, I mean they could be out there. I just tell myself what is the point. If they wanted us they wouldn't have left us in the first place. I love Mom and Dad. Sometimes I wish I could remember anything from the day they left us if only to reassure you. But no matter how hard I try I don't remember anything from before Mom and Dad brought us here. I'm sorry, I wish I could be more of a comfort." Vee flung her arms around Gwen's neck and buried her face into her neck.

What Gwen failed to mention to Vee, because she didn't think there was any significance in them, were the recurring dreams she had throughout the years. They were vague but always the same. The sounds of growling, screaming, and crying. The voice of a woman telling her to stay hidden and hold her sister tight. The feeling of fear that was almost too familiar for comfort, a fear she didn't remember ever feeling in her waking hours. But there were almost no images, all of these dreams occurred in almost complete darkness. Every time she had the dream she could only vaguely make out the small baby in her arms and a book of some kind. Eventually everything would go silent, a bright light would appear and she'd wake up.

Gwendolyn got closer and when she was within range she let a poisoned arrow loose. It hit its mark perfectly, right into the heart of the buck. The buck wavered a second and fell dead. It did not suffer, Gwen wouldn't have been able to forgive herself if it had suffered. She whistled for her mount. Not a minute later a large brown and grey direwolf appeared dragging a sled made out of wood behind him. "Good boy Nim." she reached out and hugged his almost giant neck. She quickly loaded the buck on the sled and mounted Nim's back. "Home Nim!" she commanded and Nim took off towards the manor.


End file.
